WIDE | EFM 2019 Line Up | Berlinale ~

Official Selection and Market Screenings – 

 

ACID (Panorama) – Drama

Directed by Alexander Gorchilin

An ode to the youth about 20-year-old’s entering the real world for the first time. A portrait of a generation looking for meaning in their lives. The main characters justify their irresponsibility and infantile behaviour by the lack of communication with their parents. Their principal agony is that they grew up without fathers ; now the time has come for them to achieve the status of adult males.

 

Easy Love (Perspektive) – Edgy

Directed by Tamer Jandali

In the documental fictional film Easy Love, Tamer Jandali accompanies seven young men and women with the camera in Cologne for four months. The protagonists are not professional actors, and it is their personal situations and attitude towards love that were the starting point for the film’s plot.

Market Screenings – 

Where We Go From Here – Drama

Directed by Anthony Meindl

Three acts disrupt the lives of ordinary people. Will love win out over violence? In Binghamton, an ESL teacher dealing with domestic abuse finds even greater violence at her school. In Orlando, two lovers drifting apart may be separated by the hate of another. In Paris, friends on an introspective night out get caught up in a brutal madness.

 

Versus – Drama

Directed by Francois Valla

Inspired by a true story, ‘Versus’ is an atypical, hybrid film that oscillates between a teenage chronicle and genre film. We follow the steps of Achille, a handsome young Parisian teenager from a wealthy family, who suddenly becomes the victim of an ultra-violet attack. Achille is sent by the sea-side on vacation to recuperate. There, he meets Brian – a young man who is angry with the world at large. The encounter of these two young men will bring out their true nature ; from their conflict emerges a murderer.

 

F20 – Thriller

Directed by Arsen Anton Ostojic

Martina starts a relationship with Filip, a young man who spends most of his time playing video games. After Martina convinces Filip to steal her father’s money to go to the Party Beach, everything turns into a bloody nightmare.

 

La Mala Noche – Drama

Directed by Gabriela Calvache

A beautiful woman turns to prostitution. She must surrender her income to the leader of a human trafficking ring, but her daughter’s illness and a drug addiction prevent her from delivering her usual share. An unexpected event gives her the opportunity to stop obeying and take justice into her own hands.

 

Bloody Marie – Thriller

Directed by Lennert Hillege and Guido Van Driel 

Graphic novelist Marie Wankelmut lives in the Amsterdam Red Light District where she spends her time at home, in the pub and at the liquor store. Her life is empty after the success of her graphic novel ‘Porn for the Blind’. Horrific events at her next door neighbours’ house stir Marie into action.

 

My Little One – Drama

Directed by Frederic Choffat and Julie Gilbert

An urgent plea from Jade, with whom they once shared a passionate bond, brings two European men, Alex and Bernardo, to an unexpected encounter in the Arizona desert in Navajo Nation. They are introduced to the harsh reality of Jade’s life by her precocious, free-spirited daughter, Frida. Their views on life, love and death are about to change forever.

 

By A Sharp Knife – Drama

Directed by Teodor Kuhn

A father whose son has been killed in a neo-Natzi attack struggles with guilt and the injustice of the judiciary system. His relationship with his family falls apart as he blames himself and tries to influence the investigation.

 

Haifa Street – Drama

Directed by Mohanad Hayal

It’s 2006 and Baghdad is ravaged by sectarian violence. With Haifa Street as the epicenter of the conflict, masked gunmen and snipers reign with terror for reasons and political allegiances that are unclear. When Ahmed gets dropped off there by a taxi on his way to his beloved Suad’s home to ask for her hand in marriage, he gets shot by Salam, an anxious young sniper living his own personal hell on a rooftop above. And so the drama begins.

 

Junk Love – Drama

Directed by Pierre de Suzzoni

Sarah, a beautiful young woman, suddenly realizes that Vince does not keep up with her love for him, and she breaks up violently. Vince does not understand and desperately tries to win her back. But Sarah falls unwillingly in love with Zack, a pizza delivery man who dreams of becoming a writer.

 

My Brothers – Drama

Directed by Bertrand Guerry

Eddy and Rocco are brothers. Their hour of glory on the indie rock scene was in the late 90s. Ten years later, they live on an island and lead the local marching band. One evening, their sister Lola comes back into their lives. She meets Simon, Rocco’s son, who will be 13 years old soon. Their common history bears more than its fair share of suffering, with broken hearts, bruised bodies and inability to communicate. But the strength of brotherhood will bring joy back into their lives.

 

The Pig – Drama

Directed by Dragomir Sholev

Rumen is a 13 year old outsider who lives with his grandmother and her unwell sister. His parents are immigrant workers and their presence in his life is only on the screen of his phone. A head taller than the others and overweight, he doesn’t fit in. He gets bullied every day, but never reciprocates. One day, when a boy tries to steal his phone – the only connection with his parents – Pig instinctively fights back and hits the boy, almost to death. Convinced that he is a killer, Pig runs away and hides in a forest nearby ; the boy is not hurt, and the kids want revenge.

 

Consequences – Drama

Directed by Darko Stante

17 year old Andrej is admitted to a youth correctional facility where he meets Zeljko, another delinquent inmate who soon starts exploiting Andrej in turn for keeping his homosexuality a secret. But when he is faced with a decision between joining Zeljko in his life of crime and staying true to himself, Andrej is finally put to a test of his personal responsibility and moral integrity.

 

HIGHLIGHTS – 

 

One Man Dies A Million Times – Drama

Directed by Jessica Oreck

Alyssa and Maksim work at the Institute of Plant Genetic Resources in the center of Leningrad. The Institute houses the world’s first seed bank, a priceless trove of living genetic diversity, which holds the potential to transform modern agriculture. The two young botanists fall in love as the world wages war around them. The enemy surrounds Leningrad, cutting them off from the rest of Russia, from electricity, warmth and food. Savagery transplants civility. Maksim and Alyssa defend the seed bank and its’ priceless collection of edible specimens from the starving masses of the city, the enemy, rats and each other.

 

Carga – Drama

Directed by Bruno Gascon

A truck driver tormented by the load he carries. A road that should lead to a better life. Human beings being treated as goods for sale. In a capitalist society where each person focuses on their own needs, it is easy to forget about those around us and only do what is best for each of us. This is the story of Viktoriya, a young woman who throws everything away in search of a better life. From the moment the doors of the truck in which she travels open up, Viktoriya is confronted with the cruel reality of human trafficking. Can she escape her fate?

 

Light As Feathers – Drama

Directed by Rosanne Pel

15 year old Eryk lives with his mother, grandmother and great grandmother in a rural village in Poland. His father has been out of the picture for as long as Eryk can remember. With his manipulative and dominant mother, he has an intimate relationship.  Eryk has feelings for his 13 year old neighbour Klaudia. But he does not know the difference between love and abuse.

 

Denmark – Drama

Directed by Kasper Rune Larsen

Norge, 22, is your typical slacker kid. He aimlessly wanders around the suburban housing blocks with a pint of beer and a joint, with his only friend Myre. Two kids dreaming of moving to a bigger city like Aarhus or Berlin. They have everything planned out ; a music career and all. Not much happens until 16 year old Josephine barges into Norge’s life claiming to be pregnant with his child.

 

We – Drama

Directed by Rene Eller

During a scorching summer in a Belgian-Dutch border village, eight teenagers play games of discovery to break the listless monotony. They challenge each other and themselves, and soon enough their sexual curiosity starts to blur the lines between right and wrong. As innocence is crushed in depraved games and sexual exploitation, the teenagers soon turn into ruthless predators.

 

Obey – Drama

Directed by Jamie Jones

Suffocating at home in the presence of his alcoholic mother and her abusive boyfriend, hunted on the streets by local gangs, 19 year old Leon finds solace in the boxing ring. When he meets Twiggy, a beautiful blonde girl living in a local squat, something stirs inside of him. He falls in love for the first time. When Twiggy no longer wants him around, he withdraws, allowing his raw and unhampered emotions to feed into the violent 2011 London riots.

 

Tazzeka – Drama

Directed by Jean Philippe Gaud

Growing up in a Moroccan village in Tazzeka, Elias learned the secrets of traditional Moroccan cuisine from his grandmother who raised him. Years later, meeting a top Paris Chef and a young woman named Salma inspire him to leave home.

 

2 Hours From Paris – Comedy Drama

Directed by Virginie Verrier 

Sidonie, a young air hostess, raises her 15 year old daughter Lolo alone as her father is unkown. In an effort to satisfy Lolo’s growing curiosity as to her origins, Sidonie takes her to her own native region, Somme Bay, in search of potential fathers. There are five of them – a melancholic mechanic, an artist/painter jaded playboy, a former local football champion, a nightclub owner, a womanizing doctor – five men who open the doors of their lives. Five men, five memories, five confrontations with the past, five unexpected encounters.

 

The Pigeon – Drama

Directed by Banu Sivaci

Only on the roof of his parents’ house above the alleys of a slum in Adana with his beloved pigeons, can Yusuf find his peace. Finding a foothold in the world outside is more difficult.

 

Dissonance – Drama

Directed by Bernard Declercq

Doctor Lepage knows his wife, Francoise, very well. He keeps her, watches over her. Like her ‘master’, he bats away all the ‘butterflies’ that approach her. Francoise knows that she is beautiful. She feels the desire in the gaze of men who lust after her. But with Jacques, she is sure it’s different.